Diary of the Demigods
by Flamin' Fire Ferret
Summary: Don't mess with Fate, because it'll just mess with you back.
1. Book 1 Prologue: A Snippet of Fate

**Six years before the diaries took place…**

**FAYLIOM**

I took my backpack off and threw it on the sofa, then grabbed a sandwich from the kitchen and headed for the roof, the only place with privacy. Until my brothers came home. But I don't care. As long as my step-siblings and step-mother doesn't find me.

My name is Fayliom Wang and I'm seven years old. I have two real brothers. Jacob is one year older than me (I mostly call him Jake). Seth is three years younger than me.

Seth and I have startling gray eyes and black hair and look a lot alike. Jake didn't look like he belonged to the family. He had dark blue eyes and brown hair. Seth liked to follow me around. Jake is very protective about Seth and me. Once in school he got detention because he pushed a kid on the playground for making fun of my eyes.

The stars in the skies looked beautiful as the last rays of the sun disappeared. I lay down on the roof and stared into the skies, making out the constellations like the big dipper, the little dipper, and Leo.

"Fayfay!" little Seth said and sat down beside me. I heard another shuffle and Jake sat down on the other side of me. "Circles and square!" Seth squealed and pointed to the big dipper. Today was Seth's first day of school and they were learning about shapes. Then he blurted out all the smartness he had in him. "Rectangular prism, quatrefoil, curvilinear triangle, trapezium!"

Even though Seth was only five his brain in ahead of his body by about three years. So are Jake's brain and my brain.

"Isn't it cold out here?" I turned my head to see my dad at the edge of the window.

"No." I said. I turned back to the stars. "It's August."

"Yes. And I'm going to take your brothers to go shopping for your birthday present." Dad said.

"What are you going to get me?" I asked.

"That's going to be a secret." My dad winked at Jake and he smiled back.

"Come on boys. Let's get your sister her birthday present."

"I want to come with you!" I wined.

"Fine. But we're dropping you off at your Aunt Lily's house." Dad said.

We got in the car; I sat in the back with my two brothers. I can't wait until I can sit in the passenger seat.

"Giant birdies!" Seth squealed and I glanced outside into the sky. Three birds as big as my bed flew down and circled our car.

"Roman eagles!" I heard Dad mumble just as the car flipped over. I curled up into a ball as the door was clawed open and I flew out the door. Somehow my seatbelt had broken. I tumbled into the trees at the side of the highway. I watched in horror and sobbed as my world turned upside down. The eagles flew down and snatched up my brothers and my dad.

They found me there that afternoon. I had cried myself to sleep, thinking: What is happening to my life?

* * *

Matt

As I regained consciousness I heard two voices fighting.

"He has an important fate to fulfill, what exactly happened?!" a man's voice asked.

"He hit his head pretty hard when he fell off his bike." That was my mother's voice. "I told him not to go in the first place. He was just excited for the new bike!" She wasn't angry, just concerned. Good. That'll make it easier to explain and defend myself. Anyway, I _was_ just excited for my new bike.

"You should have been more careful!" that was the man again. I tried to open my eyes to see what was going on but nothing happened. "He's an important piece for the future."

"You gods, making your kids pawns for yourselves. You never think of what they feel, Apollo. You just use them. And when they die you just go make more to be killed! You immortals are so ridiculous!" Did my mom just call the man Apollo? The Apollo? The sun god from Greek mythology?

"Ravenna, please, I'm sorry I lost my temper. It's just he's a… he's very important for the future of our world!"

My mother's voice got worried, "Why can't you use another of your sons? Mattias is my only child. I wouldn't be able to bear it if he…" She trailed off. I was only eight but I wasn't completely clueless. I knew if Mom continued the sentence she would've said "died" but why? I was as alive and healthy as well, a healthy and living person.

Actually I didn't hit my head when I was on the bike. It was actually a giant black dog as tall as my mom. I just got off my bike at the drive way and the dog just pounced on me. I hit my head on the cement and that was all I could remember. Maybe the dog ran away before my mom found me. But why would the dog attack me, and how did the dog get so big?

* * *

ALISH

I sat on the couch with my sister, Susan, who was four years older than me and my brother, Vulcan, who is five years older than me. And then there was me, the outlier, who was only eight. I said I was the outlier because I was way younger than my brother and sister and looked way different. They were both really tall and strong with dark brown hair and light brown eyes, like my mother. I had light brown hair and dark brown eyes that looked almost red. Maybe it _is_ red. I couldn't tell. My mother was in the kitchen with dad, arguing in hushed voices about presents and weapons. But I wasn't interested.

It was Christmas, one of the only times dad visits other than Vulcan's, Susan's, and my birthday. It was snowing fiercely outside and Susan and I were trying to get Vulcan to play at least one game of Mario Cart with us.

"Just one game!" I pleaded. "Please!"

"It's not going to take long." Susan added.

I made my best puppy face and looked up at him. "Fine!" He gave in and grabbed a Wii controller. "But I bet five dollars from both of you that I'll beat both of you before dinner."

After I received my five dollars after beating Vulcan for the third time in a row Mom called us to dinner and present time. Great smells drifted in the air in the dining room. I sat down at my seat and grabbed a drum stick, biting into it. Everyone else also took their place and grabbed food from plates in the middle of the table. When we finished and gingerbread cookies were brought out with milk and hot chocolate, Dad stood up. My siblings and I cheered. It was present time.

"For Vulcan, a sword. For Susan, a bow and arrows. For my beautiful wife, a beautiful necklace. And last but not least, Alish." Dad handed me a red package with pictures of flames on it. I tore it open, hoping for a weapon but instead I got something better (at least that's what I thought). But instead, in my hands, laid the most awesome black fedora I have ever seen. I gotta say, I'm totally obsessed with fedoras. They make you look so cool!

"It's awesome! Thank you!" I hugged my dad and put the fedora on. It fits perfectly, the black flower poofing out at the side.

After cookies and milk everyone went to bed. I sat on the couch, staring at the fire. The longer I stared at the fire the more it looked like six kids sitting around a fire, looking at an older version of me saying something and laughing. Suddenly a cold feeling went through me as a talon appeared from the shadows. The seven kids made no sign that they had seen the talon. I watched in fear as the monster got close to the circle of kids when a hand landed on my shoulder. The image in the fire disappeared.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" Dad asked.

"I'm not tired." I said and yawned.

"Come on," my dad picked me up and I giggled. "Bed time"

"Okay, fine" I said. Dad tucked me into bed and I fell asleep, not knowing that my perfect Christmas would turn into a disaster in the morning.

* * *

I woke up to a white colored morning. After changing I rushed to Susan's room to tell her about the awesome dream I had last night.

She wasn't there.

I ran to Vulcan's room. Sometimes Vulcan and Susan would go to each other's rooms to talk about school and books and stuff that I don't care about since I'm only seven. He wasn't there either. Instead, His room was a mess. It looked like a bear had broken into his room and tried to use just about everything Vulcan owned. I rushed to the kitchen where my mom would be and stopped at the door. I heard the hushed voices of my mother and Susan fighting. I peeked around the edge. Susan had one hand on her new bow and the other on Mom's arm. She had already strung her quiver on her back.

"I have to go find him. I'll be fine. Just make sure Al doesn't suspect a thing. She's too young. But give this to her. Vulcan and Hephaestus wanted her to have it. Apollo will be able to guide her to her quest and to camp. Don't worry." Susan sounded plenty worried.

Mom hugged Susan. "Don't get yourselves killed. I love you, darling." She kissed my sister on the forehead and stepped back. Susan burst into flames and was gone. I gasped and covered my mouth, scolding myself for making a sound. My mother turned around, registering my presence for the first time. For some reason she didn't seemed surprised. She silently handed me the envelope. I took it and went to my room. My head spun with the sudden changes. In my head the scene of my big sister bursting into flames played and replayed itself again and again.

Finally I tore opened the envelope curiously. A piece of paper was neatly folded in the envelope. I took it out and unfolded it. It took my forever to decipher the words on the page. Then I had to read it three more times just to understand it. It was only a few sentences but it was enough to make me want to go screaming into the streets. It said: _I'm sorry you had to get involved with this, little sis. I do not have enough time to explain this to you. Nor are you old enough .But I can tell you this, keep the fedora Dad gave you. It will play a great part in your future. _

The last words on the page made my heart thump hard against my chest.

_Your destiny will be filled with betrayals. Keep in mind who's on your side. Remember, fate can be thwarted, and when it is, we search for a happy outcome. If I don't see you again remember, I love you, sis._

At the bottom of the page had been signed by one single letter: V.

I hugged the page to my chest and tears started to stream out of my face. "No, Vulcan, don't leave!"


	2. Book 1 Part 1: New World

Night of November 4, M.D. (Mortal Date)

_Written about October 30, November 1, 2 and the Morning of November 3._

Fayliom Rebakah Wang

Okay, this really isn't a diary… it's not a journal either. (Just because it says diary on the cover doesn't mean it _is_ one.) I'm only writing down the events of everything that happened because one day another demigod could look at this and use it to survive. Like Percy Jackson said, "Being a demigod is dangerous. It's scary. Most of the time it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways." You don't want to be a demigod. Then again, you can't help being one. It's fate. You shouldn't meddle with fate. Okay… I'm beginning to sound like Chiron now so I'm going to stop lecturing myself about fate. Most of what I just wrote down is more of a reassurance to me than it is information to whoever is reading this.

Then there's another thing I'm worried about… seventh grade. Seventh graders don't make prank calls or try to be the fastest runner anymore. We've got other things to worry about, like BO, bad breath, cool clothes. And boyfriends.

I'm taking up too much space. I'm just going to start on the day my class took a field trip to Camp Nuhop.

* * *

"Hey, Fayliom! I'll give you twenty dollars if you ask Mattias Fiqqel out." That was my best friend, Alish. We were on the bus with our luggage in the back. Matt- Mattias Fiqqel- was sitting two seats in front of us.

I had my backpack with me. The backpack was small and brown. It had two mini water bottles, a small notebook, the Percy Jackson Ultimate Guide, a pencil and a pack of tissues in there (I had allergies). I also had a pack of gum- which the teachers said not to bring.

Anyways, Alish was teasing me- she did it quietly or I would've strangled her- about my crush, Matt.

"Shut up!" I giggled and gave her a nudge.

"I'm serious, Fayliom." True enough, she had her serious face on. (I didn't know Alish had a serious face until that moment.)

"I don't know… promise you'll give me twenty dollars?"

"Ten if you want me to do it."

I thought for a while. "Okay… fine."

We shook hands. "Give me a piece of paper. I'll write a message to him." she told me. I rummaged in my backpack and brought out my pencil and notebook. I ripped a page out and handed it to Alish along with the pencil. By now my heart was beating so hard it could've thumped out of my chest if I let it.

_"What if he says no? What would I do then? What if…" _I pinched myself. I'm not an optimistic person (mostly) but I don't like thinking negative. It makes me all "doom and gloom" for the next thirty minutes. "_Shut up little negative Fayliom bug in the back of my mind."_

"Done! Hey, Jack, hand the paper to Matt!" Alish yelled.

"Alish!" I complained. "I didn't even get to see the note!"

Just then Matt poked his head into the aisle and asked, "Who wrote this?"

A warm feeling trickled down my spine and I hid behind my bangs.

"Me, but Fayliom asked me to do it." Alish answered.

"Is that true, Fayliom?" I nodded and blushed a deep shade of red. Matt was extra cute that day. He had tried to straighten out his curly brown hair with not much of an improvement since it was still curly. His green eyes twinkled with amusement. Even though it was like 30 degrees outside he was only wearing a thin dark blue jacket over his gray shirt. Matt was strong. He's tall too, at least, 5'3'' which is three inches taller than me.

"Soooo, what's your answer?" Alish asked with a wink.

"Sure." He said and went back to talking with his friend like I didn't just ask him out. I would've still be sitting there with my mouth open, gaping at what just happened but instead, fate took another course.

"Hey Fayliom. Are you and Matt going out?" came the voice in the seat next to us. The voice belonged to TJ. (A.k.a. Mr. Ipokemynoseintoeveryone's-business.)

"What do you think?" Alish asked. We got TJ's answer nice and clear. TJ stood up and yelled above everyone else. "HEY, EVERYONE! FAYLIOM AND MATT ARE GOING OUT!" He grinned at me and I blushed redder. As TJ sat down I cursed him under my breath. What did I do that made him hate me so much? Or is he just extra nosey today? (I mean, it's not really dating. It's more like we know we like each other and the real going out stuff starts in like high school. Anyway, sixth grade relationship usually doesn't last that long.)

Finally someone broke the silence, "We're here!" I looked outside the window to see a sign that said: Ketchup Hop.

Wait…what? Oh, sorry, I forgot to tell you that I'm dyslexic.

I concentrated and found out it actually says: Camp Nuhop. At least I got the "hop" part right. When the bus stopped all the sixth graders tried to get off at the same time which caused quite a problem until Mrs. Valentine came over and restored order.

After everyone got their things together, cabins assigned, and settled everything on their bunk we met at the apple orchard and had lunch with our assigned tables in the mess hall. We got assigned to our tribes and went to our tribe table in the apple orchard. Now that I think about it, it was a messy day. (And very confusing too)

At the tribe tables was the first time I got a good look at my new boyfriend. Luckily he was in the tribe that sat next to my tribe so it all worked out. I sat close to him. He smiled and waved to me when he saw I was there. I smiled and waved back.

"You know," Matt said. "As long as we have a relationship it's gonna be half you and half Jack."

"That's okay. I know you have to spend time with your friends and me with mine. You need your space." I must've looked disappointed because Matt opened him mouth to say more. "It's alright," I told him. "I understand."

Then Triple P, my tribe leader for the day, called my name and we parted ways.

On the third day I had my hand on my luggage as I made my way towards the third bus. I wasn't sure why but I was really jumpy today. Then I saw something in the bushes that sent a cold feeling down my spine. Two glowing red eyes. Then I blinked and the eyes were gone.

_"Must've been a trick of the light."_ I thought. Awhile later on the bus we were joking around making mad-libs when the bus shuddered and slanted sideways.

"Ahhhh!" we had all screamed. (Alish said she doesn't scream. She yells. But whatever.) I kept getting squished by my luggage. Then, slanting once more, the bus came crashing down to its side. The window on my left broke as it hit the pavement, shattering glass all over me. My forehead burned with pain as one piece of glass made a cut there. Something warm trickled down the side of my head. I placed my hand there then took it away to see red liquid. My stomach fluttered and the world spun as I stared at my blood. Suddenly a horn blew and brought me back to my senses. I grabbed my jacket and covered the cut with it, trying to slow the flow of blood. I quickly followed someone out of the emergency door on the roof.

"Fayliom!" Alish rushed over to me. "What happened?"

"The window shattered and cut me. I'm fine."

"You're bleeding!" Matt exclaimed. He took off his jacket and pressed it to my forehead. There was chaos all around us. All three buses were overturned and there were injured kids too, though most made it out unhurt.

"Awww! How sweet!" TJ said sarcastically. "I didn't even scream! You guys are such cowards!"

"I saw you!" I said, my fists balled up. "You were screaming like a girl with your hands over your head, you coward!"

"Wow is that the best you could come up with, girl?"

"Sexist pig!" I muttered.

"What?!" TJ scowled.

"Ohhhhh!" a kid said.

"You cursed idiot!" I yelled at him. I turned away, and walked straight into a very angry, growling-with-glowing-red-eyes, black dog. The dog was unnaturally big (not the fat kind of big) and had huge black paws with really, really, knife-sharp claws. He snapped at me with huge yellow teeth.

_"You should really brush your teeth and get a breath mint. Your breath stinks!"_ That was my first thought. My second thought was: _"Ahhhh!" Run away! He's gonna eat you!" _And my third thought was… um… I'm not even going to write that down. Aunt Lily would've washed my mouth with a bar of soap by now.

I backed away slowly. For a moment the super-giant dog and I just stared at each other. Then it growled and charged at me. Naturally, I ran. Time slowed down. I hate it when this happens. (My counselor said it was because of my ADHD.) I saw a log in front of me but it was too late. I tripped and fell, rolling down the hill towards (awesome, more bad luck!) the lake! Cold water wrapped all around me and I sunk deep down towards the bottom. I held my breath until I felt the world go dark and stupidly took a deep breath of water. But instead of water, I found out I could breathe normally!

_"Oh no!" _a dreadful thought passed through my head. _"I'm related to Percy Jackson! Great!" _Then I looked down at myself and screamed in my head: _"Ahhhh! I 'm a giant goldfish!"_

True enough I had the body of a koi the size of a thirteen year old kid. I was related to Percy_ and_ Frank. (Frank is one of the characters in the Percy Jackson series and he could turn into animals.) Once again, great!

_"Turn back into a human!"_ I told myself and concentrated, like Frank does in the books. (Now that I think about it that was a really stupid thing to do.) Suddenly I was fighting for a breath of air again. I broke through the surface, gasping and spitting out lake water. The dog was nowhere to be seen. I've studied on the subject of Greek mythological monsters before just for fun. If my calculation was right this dog thing isn't an ordinary dog. Whoever sent this creature really wants me dead because the thing they sent was a _Laelaps_, a dog destined to always catch its prey. If that thing was after me, I was already dead.

I swam to the shore and surveyed my surroundings when I heard the voices of Matt and Alish.

"Hey, guys! Over here!" soon they found me, wet and exhausted, sitting on the dead trunk of an oak tree that had fell over, roots and all.

"How do we get back?" I asked.

"Get back?" Alish scoffed. "We couldn't find a single teacher in sight. Even the bus drivers have all disappeared. We've all split up, even though it wasn't a good idea." She handed me my brown bag. "This is all we could find, not counting the two sleeping bags. The luggage has all disappeared too!"

"No way! That was my last pair of good jeans!" I sighed. We all sat down on the log, Alish to my left and Matt to my right.

"First we need to find a good place for shelter and gather some food." Matt finally said.

"I saw a small cave down by the shore. I also saw a raspberry bush down there somewhere." I pointed down the hill by a big rock.

"We could build a fire too. I learned how to make one in survival class at Camp Nuhop." Alish offered sounding like it was the proudest person in the world. She held up two small stones. "And we collected flint!"

We all set to work. I led them down to the small cave. Alish got to make a fire in the cold afternoon. I picked berries while Matt, with his strong arms, gathered fire wood. Finally as the sun set we gathered around the fire. The fire Alish had made was nice and warm. Alish had gone to gather more fire wood when I sat down beside Matt.

"Berries?" I offered him holding up a small plastic Wal-Mart shopping bag that I found in the front pocket of my bag, which I forgot to mention.

"Sure."

We stared into the beautiful sunset.

"Is your cut okay?" Matt finally broke the silence. He gently placed his strong steady fingers on the cut on my forehead. I winced. "Sorry!" He said and took his hand off. "How did you stay in the water so long without drowning?"

I told him what happened. His eyebrows arched up in a surprised face. "That's some fantasy story. But for some reason I believe you."

Now it was my turn to be surprised. In the dim light of the last rays of sunlight I looked at him. He was shivering in the thin jacket he had pushed against my wound to stop the bleeding recently. There were bloodstains on the jacket but it was hardly noticeable against the dark fabric. "Do you think they're testing our survival skills?"

"No way!" Matt said. "Not like this. The teachers said we were going to be home today! My mom's gonna be worried sick! Though my step-siblings probably wouldn't care. For all I know they could be celebrating right now."

"Then where are the teachers?" I'd stumped him. We sat in uncomfortable silence until Alish came back. She took one glance at both of us and grinned. I scowled as I hid behind my bangs.

"You guys enjoy the fire. I'm gonna set up the sleeping bags." Alish headed for the cave and out of earshot, maybe.

"What was that all about?" Matt asked.

"Alish was the one who set us up in the first place. Actually it was Anita, but whatever." I told him. "She knew I liked you ever since fourth grade."

"Really?" He mused, eyebrows raised in that cute Matt-like way.

"Yeah. When did you start liking me? And Alish, you could stop eavesdropping on us now."

"Awww! You just got to the good part! And how did you know?"

"Well, if you paid attention and remembered that your glasses reflect the light you wouldn't have been noticed." I said. Now it was my turn to grin.

"Aw, shucks. Fayliom, you ruin all the fun."

"You two can fight all you want. I'm going to bed." Matt got up and headed for the hill, opposite of the cave, to another little cave we found for him to sleep in. Even if we're in danger of getting killed by the Laelaps it would still be awkward for a boy to be sleeping with girls. Oh, that sounds messed up.

"Good night, Matt!" I called after him. He turned, smiled, and waved at me before the darkness swallowed him up.

That night I tossed and turned, thinking about the Laelaps (Alish slept like a hibernating polar bear). Finally, my weary eyes closed and I slipped into the world of nightmares.

* * *

I was standing in the middle of a beach, the summer breeze blowing in my face. I turned and saw Matt walking towards me with the forest to his back. He was laughing like I had said something funny and we played in the water, getting soaked in the cool, salty ocean. Suddenly, out of nowhere, came the Laelaps. It pounced on top of Matt. Matt yelled my name, screaming for help. But I couldn't move. My feet were stuck in the sand, slowly sinking, lower and lower. The earth tugged at my feet, saying my name, telling me to forget Matt and go with someone called Gaea. I screamed at the earth, telling it to leave me alone when I found myself back in the cave.

Alish was gone, though her sleeping bag still had warmth in it. Matt was beside me, his strong hands on my arm, calling out my name. It was thunder storming outside, which explained the little puddles of water forming at the foot of my sleeping bag. I found myself all sweaty and freaked out, still screaming at Gaea to go away. I silenced myself immediately and took a deep breath.

"You okay?" Matt asked.

"Yeah, I had a nightmare."

"About Gaea? Isn't she the earth titian?"

"Yep, she was really evil."

"I know, I read the Percy Jackson series too, remember?"

"Yeah, but Gaea is in the Heroes of Olympus series, not the Percy Jackson series."

"Whatever." Then thunder boomed making us both jump. For a second we stared at each other, then we both fell over, laughing. Then I heard a low growl. I straightened up and yelped. At the mouth of the cave was the Laelaps. The Laelaps suddenly yelped and turned, just in time to get hit in the head with a log as big as the Laelaps itself.

"Are you guys okay?" Alish asked, putting down the log. The Laelaps had fled. Probably it was going to come back again as soon as the world stops spinning.

"Thanks. We're fine." I answered. "Where were you?"

"Looking for breakfast. But I found something else you might find interesting. Come and see." Alish walked out of the cave.

"I'm not sure about this. And what if the dog thing attacks us again?"

"The dog thing is a Laelaps, and stop worrying. It's gonna be fine… I think." I grabbed Matt's arm and towed him out of the cave. (After I grabbed my bag.)

We followed Alish down to the beach. At first I didn't know what she was looking at. But as we got closer I saw it.

It was beautiful, with purple and turquoise swirls and little yellow flecks caught in between the middle. The swirly colors tugged at everything around it, making the sand swirl at its feet.

"What is it, the Northern Lights?" I asked.

Before anyone could answer my question something hit me right in the stomach. I doubled over, clutching my stomach so I won't throw up. The world suddenly turned upside down as something dragged me by my leg right into Rainbow Swirly and the world went black.

* * *

I was running through the forest, the Laelaps close behind me. Suddenly I stopped. _"This is my dream" _I thought. _"And I can do whatever I want to do with it. And I want to dream about something else." _The dream shifted and suddenly I was in the middle of a graveyard.

_"Why am I here?" _I thought to myself. I realized I was dreaming in black and white. Something caught my eye to my left. It was a bouquet of flowers. And the bouquet was the only thing that had color. I walked over to it and looked at the inscription on the gravestone. It was my grandmother's grave! On the gravestone it said;

Rosaline Wang

A Loving Mother

1836-1963

_"What about a loving wife?" _I thought. _Don't all gravestones like that have_ a loving wife _engraved on it?_ Then I remembered something my father told me. Grandmother's husband disappeared before he was born and she never talked about him. It was the same way with my mom. Dad never talked about her. She mysteriously disappeared when I was a baby and never came back.

The dream shifted again and I was on the hill behind my house. I saw my father with a woman. She had long black hair and an athletic body like me. She turned toward me and smiled. Her gray eyes matched mine.

"Hello daughter." said the woman. "I've missed you."

"You're my mom?" I asked her with doubt in my voice. But then again she did look a lot like me, except the Chinese features. She looked strangely familiar but I didn't know why. "Why didn't you come back and visit me all these years?"

I know. You must think I'm crazy, asking questions to a woman in my dream that probably didn't exist.

"Oh… I had problems…"

"You had problems?" I snapped. "Who do you think you are? Your problems couldn't possibly even come close to the problems I've had! Do you know how hard it is to move to a different school every year? You know how being dyslexic feels like, having to read struggle while other people could read Harry Potter in like… two days? Do you know the cruel jokes other kids play on me, saying they're better because they have parents and I don't? You could at least have come back once! Do you know that Dad barely smiles anymore, working overtime so we'd have enough to eat? Until… until the car crash that killed him. And you weren't at the funeral either!" I poured all my anger from my life into those last words. Not bothering to think how my eyes made her uncomfortable like it did to my friends. "Do you? Well, do you?"

The woman sighed, her startling gray eyes filled with sadness. "I guess it's time to tell you the truth. First my name is Athena, goddess of wisdom, crafts, and war."

"Wait, did I just hear you right? You said you were Athena. _The_ Athena?" I stared at her in disbelief. She nodded.

"And you're right. I don't know how I'd feel because I've never been to school. But that's not the reason I'm here."

"Then why are you here?" I asked.

"I need to warn you. And my father, Zeus, has only allowed me a few minutes to talk. You are going into an unknown world beyond our reach." As if on cue the dream flickered, like TV with bad cable. "There's only one way to escape. But you have to find it before the sunset of the third day, or you'll be lost forever. But be careful. _If fire brings down fire all will be lost to the Great Unknown._ I love you." The dream flickered again and went black. The last thing I saw was two great balls of fire circle each other until a gust of wind blew them out, leaving the world in infinite darkness.

* * *

"And… she's alive!" that was the first thing I heard when I woke up. Alish was beaming down at me. "Hey, you missed this awesome stuff I did to the Laelaps while you were out! I went like hey-yah and wa-cha and stuff like that and it got scared and ran away. Right? I even did an awesome Jackie Chan move that really kicked butt!"

"Right." Matt snorted. "When pigs fly!"

"Actually pigs _do_ fly!" I lectured my idiot boyfriend.

"Ooo, good one Fayliom. High five!" We high fived as Matt muttered; "Girls!"

I looked around. "So… what did I miss?"

"Awesome stuff! So we followed you and Mr. Ineedabreathmint through this rainbow portal thing into a whole other world. Then my hands burst into flames and for a second I was like 'flame on, baby!' and then the only thing left was a big pile of ash! I was like awesome! Flaming Alish! How does that sound to you? Awesome or super awesome?"

"Actually you were running in circles yelling; "AHHHH! My hands' on fire!" and accidently set the Laelaps on fire." Matt said as-a-matter-of-factly, badly mimicking Alish's voice.

"Well I was pretty close with my version of the story, wasn't I?" Alish said with a wink. With that comment we all started laughing, glad to be rid of the Laelaps. When we finally came around Alish pointed out the obvious; "So… what are we going to do now? I mean, how do we get out of here?"

I told them about my dream, though I skipped the part about Athena being my mother. I wasn't ready for the world to know that secret yet.

"Wow. This is really sounding like Percy Jackson." Alish said, once again pointing out the obvious thing.

"How do we even know it's real? It could just be a dream." Matt said.

"All three of us having the same dream? That's the biggest coincidence I've ever heard of." I exclaimed. "Anyway, Athena said we have to find something in order to get out of this place. And we only have three days to find it. Or we'll be trapped here forever. I wonder what Aunt Lily is doing right now."

"Yeah. My mom would be going out of her mind!" Alish said.

"Mine too." Matt agreed.

"Lucky." I sighed.

"How are we lucky?" Matt asked. He doesn't know my secret yet.

"Fayliom's father died in a car crash when she was seven." Alish explained. "Her mother disappeared when she was a baby. She was placed in a horrible orphanage. The kind that makes you clean the floor with a tooth brush if you do something bad and never let you go outside. So she ran away to her Aunt Lily's house and her aunt's taken care of her since then. Actually, Aunt Lily's her godmother, but same difference"

"Hey, that's my line." I slapped her

"Wow, that's way worse than my life." Matt said. "The only bad thing that happened in my life is getting kicked out of every school I've ever attended."

"Me too." Alish said.

"Same with me!" I exclaimed. I tried to get up. That's when I realized the Laelaps had bitten me. I yelped and fell back onto the sandy beach. "Ow!"

"What's wrong?" Matt asked. He knelt down and placed his fingers on my leg, right on the wound. My leg burned with a sudden pain. Then as soon as the pain had started it was gone. Slowly, the wound closed and the blood disappeared, leaving only a small scar where the Laelap's bite _was_ a few seconds ago. Matt gasped and took his hand off. I gaped at him.

"Dude, what the heck!" Alish exclaimed. "You didn't tell me you have awesome magic healing fingers!"

Matt frowned at her like he didn't know what she was talking about. "What?"

"Earth to Matt! You just made that bite thing disappear with your freakily awesome magic fingers that heal things! Even though my flames are way awesomer, that was still awesome! Did you see…?"

"When I touched her leg something happened." Matt said before Alish could freak out more. "I saw something. It looked like a crystal something or other. I also saw flames. And… and…"

"And what?" I asked.

"I don't remember anymore." He huffed in exasperation. His eyebrows scrunched up with his head tilted a little to the left. And the way those dark green eyes sparkled… sorry, kinda got distracted.

"Let's get going. We should head thataway." Alish pointed to some hills in the distance.

"Okay, let's follow Miss Know-it-all and try not to get killed." I grumbled sarcastically and picked up my brown bag.

"Well, I picked that direction because there's noise coming from that way. It sounds like there's a town or city there."

I listened hard and found out she was right. There _are_ sounds coming from that direction. "Let's go."

We are setteling settling in for the nite night. I'm two too tireed tired. I'll right write more in the morin morning.

* * *

November 3, M.D.

Fayliom Wang

We were walking by a highway we found leading into the town, which as we got closer looked more like a city than a town. A sign told us the city's name was Iceville (which is the crappiest name I have ever heard of). The city was magnificent. It was in the shape of a circle, split into quarters, each quarter representing a season. Each season was split into three sectors, representing the months. In the middle of the four quarters a big mountain rose from the ground into the clouds. For a second I could swear there was light coming from those clouds. Then thunder boomed and the lights disappeared.

We walked into the March sector of the circle. It suddenly dawned on me that the noises were gone, replaced by silence. (And of course it got warmer)

"Hey guys," I said. "Doesn't it seem a little quiet to you?"

"I was just thinking that." Matt said.

"There's not a single soul around here." Alish gasped. "Not even the clerks in the stores. Wait… are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Alish looked at us with a sly look in her eyes. The ends of her lips curled up into a mischievous grin.

"You're not thinking…!" I gasped.

"Yep," Matt said looking down at his muddy t-shirt. "Let's go shopping… or should I say looting?"

* * *

True enough there was no one around. We walked down a street until we found a store called Medea's Fountain. Inside we split up and said we'll meet each other at the front entrance in an hour. I looked around the youth section. I looked in the mirror and saw the cut on my forehead was only a scar. Probably because of when Matt touched my head when we were sitting by the fire. I chose my outfit carefully and made my way to our rendezvous point. Matt was already there, biting into a cream-filled doughnut. He was wearing a purple T-shirt that said: Epic Purple T-shirt, Level 85. (I don't really know what that means.) He had on long jeans and a leather jacket. Typical.

"You look great, Fayliom."

I was wearing an orange t-shirt with a navy blue GAP sweatshirt on top. Underneath I wore jeans and a black leather belt. I tousled with my hair, finally deciding to put it up that. I kept my favorite black, orange, and green bracelet on. I pushed my glasses (turquoise and black) up and told him. "You too, Zipline Boy."

"Where's Alish?" he asked.

"I don't know. She's probably still trying on "awesome" clothes." I said making air quotes as I said "awesome". We grinned then waited in silence until Alish came back. She had on these weird pants that were gold with black crisscross designs. On top she wore a black tank top. She also had those long gloves that almost go all the way to your shoulder. I know, her fashion statements are so weird. She still had the crazy grin on her face and that sly twinkle in her eyes, like she's planning what lame joke or prank she's gonna use on you.

"Uh, nice outfit." I said sarcastically.

Apparently she didn't catch the sarcasm because she said, "I know right? Check this out!" Suddenly her tank top changed shape, becoming harder and harder until it became a Greek armor. "And the weight doesn't even change!"

Suddenly we heard a sound coming from beneath us.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Let's find out." Matt said.

* * *

We followed the noise down to the basement where we found a trap door that led down to some tunnels. After sending Alish up to grab some flashlights we went into the tunnels to investigate what was making the noise. We followed the tunnels right, then left, the right twice more to our first split in the path.

We stayed on the main path. After a while we reached an opening that led into a cement room filled with cardboard boxes. It looked like somebody's basement. A staircase led up to a painted hot pink door. Then the pink door opened. A man in Greek armor stepped through, another following in his step. They wore helmets and held swords. The two men looked us up and down, nodded to each other, and strode toward us.

"You three, come with me." The first man growled in a low, gruff voice.

My two friends and I backed up. "What do you want with us?" I asked.

"Just come with us."

"My mother told me not to go with strangers, or ugly people. And you definitely qualify for that group." Alish scowled.

"Come with me, or else!" the man growled.

"Run!" I screamed.

We ran back into the passage with the two soldiers on our heels. We made a left then a right and up the stairs back into Medea's Fountain. We were losing our pursuers but we were not fast enough. When I looked back I found out two more soldiers had joined the group. The two new pursuers each took out something. I realized what it was as soon as one of them took a shot. They were bazookas. And somehow they were loaded with Greek fire. The ground shook and threw me off balance as the Greek fire made contact with the floor and exploded, billowing green mist. The floor cracked under us and we ran faster through the aisles of clothing. Up the escalator we went with them shooting at our heels. We dodged a rack of clothing and I ran into Alish.

"Dead end… literately." Alish groaned. In front of us was a rack of clothing. Behind the rack was that floor to ceiling windows that looks over the whole city. I didn't have much time to take in the scene. There were hills in the distance, rolling into the horizon. I just had time to register we were three floors above the streets when another shot fired from the Bazooka carriers. The floor crumpled beneath me.

"Matt, Alish!" I yelled. Matt just had time to grab me by my hand before we both slipped from the crumbling floor and fell through thin air. Suddenly we weren't falling anymore. I opened my eyes. "_Are we dead_?" I thought. But I didn't feel any impact. What had happened? I looked down at myself and screamed in my head. I had changed into a dragon. Great! Matt was dangling in my _claws_.

"Fayliom? Wha…?" He trailed off as his eyes met mine. I nodded, blew fire and flew back into Medea's Fountain straight into the middle of a battle. Alish was sweating with concentration, Blasts of fire bursting from her hand but she wouldn't be able to hold them off for much longer. I blew fire at the Bazooka people. They burst into flame and all that was left was some ashes. Matt was throwing stones at the other two soldiers with deadly accuracy. One made its way into the skull of one of the soldiers. He turned heels and ran when he saw me. Alish blasted fire at the other soldier and our problems were gone… for now.

We went back into the passageway after I turned back into and human with Alish freaking out. After making our way around we came to a storage room filled with stuff. We looked around. I found a dark blue pouch with endless space and took it. Alish found an "epic" stick and kept that. Finding nothing else interesting or dangerous we settled down for the night.

Now I write in this journal in the dim light of a flashlight. Alish still sleeps like a hibernating polar bear, occasionally mumbling something in her sleep. Matt sleeps a few feet sway from me on my right. He tossed around, probably having some nightmare. I forgot to say I kept my brown bag even though I had the bag of endless space. It brings back good memories. My eyelids are getting heavy. I am going to sleep.

* * *

November 5, M. D.

Fayliom Wang

I woke up and found myself leaning on Matt's shoulders. I gasped and scooted back as Matt woke up and did the same thing.

"A little too close for my taste if I do say so myself." Matt said.

I blushed and hid behind my bangs. "Yeah, I was gonna say the same thing."

"What day is it?" Matt asked suddenly.

"Why?

"Just wondering."

"November forth. What's wrong?"

"I had a dream. We have to find _it_ tomorrow."

"Find what?" I asked perplexed.

"In my dream there was this red crystal incased in fire. Someone was guarding it… I don't know who. It was in this big dark room. A voice told me we have to find that crystal tomorrow or all will be lost. It said something like if fire brings down fire all will be lost the Great Unknown. Isn't that the prophecy you said Athena gave to you?"

"Yeah. I've been trying to figure it out. Maybe it's about Alish, with her fire powers and all she could be one of the fire. I saw an image of some type of dragon combined with a lion in my dream last night. It was spitting fire. That thing could be the other fire. This is all so confusing. We don't even know who the villain of the story is."

"Um hum… score! Chocolate!" He was digging through a candy jar filled with golden coins. I took the jar from him and gasped. It was filled with golden drachmas.

"What?" he looked over and froze. "Are those real drachmas?"

"Yes." I answered. "I'll put it in my pouch, in case if we need them later."

"Good idea." Matt said and went back to enjoying his chocolates. Somewhere he had found an iPhone and was listening to songs. I couldn't hear them because he had also found a pair of earphones. Typical.

"Hey, where's Alish?" I asked. Matt didn't answer. I ripped off one of his ear phones and yelled in his ear. "Have you seen Alish?!"

"No. Not since yesterday. Why?"

"She's gone." I growled.

"Okay, okay. You want to search for her. Let's pack up, stuff everything in your pouch and then leave." Matt said and we packed up, stuffing everything in my pouch like he wanted.

"Come on. Let's go find Alish."


	3. Book 1 Part 2: Fire and Water

November 5, M.D.

Alish Genelia Firehunter

Helloooo! Alish here. This is my diary/journal. I'll start at the part where Fayliom left off. When I disappeared.

I was looking for food in the storage room as Fayliom and Matt slept leaning against each other like a dating couple should. Then I heard a sound coming from down one of the passageways. I went to investigate, planning to be back before the two love birds woke up and started freaking out that they were leaning against each other.

I went down the tunnel, toward the sound. I finally arrived at a dark room. In the middle was a slab of stone with a sword impaled in it. I walked up to it to investigate. I tugged at the sword but it wouldn't budge.

"You won't be able to get it out. Many tried and no one succeeded." A voice said behind me. I turned around to see a boy around thirteen. My age. He wore a white dress shirt that wasn't really white anymore. Underneath he wore jeans and had a sword attached to his belt. He looked familiar but I couldn't remember where I'd seen him at the moment. "Only the one with fire could obtain the Fire Sword."

"Wow. Epic name." I said sarcastically. "Very mysterious and powerful. Maybe we could change it into something like the Flame Slasher or The Sword of Epicness. That sounds way cooler."

"Yeah." He said, obviously not getting the sarcasm.

"Soooo, fire… like this?" I grabbed the sword, summoned fire, and the sword came out as easily as pie. The boy backed away.

"You're the Fiery One!" He gasped.

"What's that supposed to mean? I think of myself more as Flamin' Alish! Or the Girl on Fire… no that's Hunger Games." I said epically and waved my hand, which still burned with fire. "And who are you?"

"I am Zander." He said like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"Zan-who?" I asked.

He sighed. "Just call me Zan."

"What kind of name is Zan?" I asked.

"My mom made it up. It's not my choice. Let me see the sword."

"Why? It's mine. I don't have to give it to you."

"Just let me see it!" He said, irritated. That's when I remembered where I've seen him. He had appeared in my dreams. And…

"You're on Gaea's side!" I gasped and backed away. Yes, now I remembered. Gaea was this evil earth titian. She had explained to me about the war and stuff. And she also tried to persuade me to join her side and abandon my friends. I was like "Are you crazy? You want me to abandon my friends? Heck no!" and so she showed this scene of Hot Zan (don't tell him I said that!) taking orders to find the Fiery One (I still prefer Flamin' Alish), get the Sword of Epicness (seriously, what kind of name is the Fire Sword?) and kill the one that obtained it. (First of all; guys aren't supposed to kill a girl without a fight. Second; that's just plain creepy!)

"So?" He scoffed.

"Soooo, she's evil! I'm not letting you have the sword without a fight." I raised the Sword of Epicness, which now blazed with fire at my command, awesome!

"Oh, no." Zan said.

"So you don't want the sword?" I asked.

"It's not that. I can't fight a girl!"

"Oh yeah?" I jabbed at him with the sword. Zan backed away.

"I might want to rethink that." He murmured and unsheathed his sword. I started swinging my sword blindly like I would on that Wii sword fighting game. Finally I blasted fire at him. He yelled something inaudible and tried to sidestep but he had no such luck. It scorched the collar of his shirt and singed the end of his hair.

"Hey, that's not fair!" he wined.

"You never said it had to be fair." I said. That's when the explosions started.

"Run!" Zan yelled and grabbed my arm.

"What the freak!" I yelled and followed him. I didn't have a choice, he was pulling my arm. The guy's so weird! One second he was trying to kill me, and now he's grabbed my arm and running like he needs to save me. "What in the world is going on?!"

"I'll explain later. Just hurry up. Can't you run any faster?"

"No! In case you haven't noticed my legs are about half an inch shorter than yours." It was true! He was at least an inch taller than me!

We kept running. We went down flights of stairs and doubled back once or twice. Just when the explosions started to fade I tripped. Down I went, face-planting in the floor. Someone grabbed me. Zan yelled something I couldn't hear. Then there was silence. The explosions stopped and the only thing I heard was footsteps. Someone had blindfolded me. Finally I was tossed in a room. I took off my blindfold.

"They locked us in!" Zan cried in frustration.

"What is going on?" I asked again.

"Warriors. Definitely the Warriors."

"Whose side are they on?"

"Neither. They kill and lock up anyone. And they only take orders from the General."

"The General?" I asked. I was really confused.

"You're not from around here, are you?" Zan asked.

"No. This stupid Laelaps thing brought us here."

"Let me guess. You're from the Mortal World. And what do you mean _us_?"

"Me and my friends. I'm Alish, and my two friends Fayliom and Matt. The last time I saw them they were smoochies, and snugglies in this storage room we rested in."

"There's no storage room in this passage… oh wait. I think you found The Room of Desires. It's this room that appears to whoever has need of it."

"So it's kinda like The Room of Requirement from Harry Potter!" I said.

"Harry-who?" Zan asked.

"Oh wow! This word has got to do a reality check! You're missing all the epic stuff!"

"What is a reality check?" Zan asked. I sighed. Once we get out of this mess I gotta get this boy to the Mortal World and tell him everything. He probably doesn't even know what a Happy Meal is!

Suddenly the door flung open. I recognized the man that stepped through. He was one of the men with bazookas. He grabbed Zan and walked out the door. I didn't even have time to register what just happened. Before the door closed I saw a keypad on the handle of the door. Of course! My mother always said, "If you want maximum security, get a lock that you could trust."

I ran to a panel in the wall. I used the Sword of Epicness and pried it open. Inside were wires of different colors. If I was someone else I would've been confused but my mom was an electrician. She has to know about the tools and wires she needed to fix something. And sometimes she takes me with her to work and shows me all about the wiring. At that time I thought it was boring but now I'm glad she taught me all of that. I detached the white wire that connected the keypad to the blue wire. Then I attached them to my phone I had in my pocket. I remembered the notes the keypad made as the Warrior typed the password in. It was like the first four notes of Old McDonald Had a Farm. I typed 6661 into the keypad and waited. The latch clicked open. Standing in the doorway was the biggest pig I've ever seen.

My natural instinct told me to run. But I just stood there in shock like a dimwit Alishcicle. The little tiny Alish in the back of my mind yelled at me to get my butt to the door and run but I couldn't. In the last second I jumped out of the way and the pig charged past me.

"Reeeeettttt!" The pig squeaked a battle cried and came back at me. This time I ran. Down the passageway I went, and up flights of stairs. The fat pig chased after me. Somehow I found myself back in the Sword of Epicness room. I remembered that I had a sword with me.

_Idiot!_ I yelled at myself in my mind. I unsheathed the sword and summoned fire. The fat pig came at me. I swung and epically missed. Unfortunately for the pig I summoned fire from my other hand. Soon the pig was just pot roast waiting to be eaten.

* * *

November 6, M.D.

Alish Firehunter

I trudged along the passageway, following the muddy footprint of Bazooka Man, who carried off Zan. I had been following the path for hours. My iPhone 5 told me it was five o'clock in the morning but surprisingly I wasn't tired.

The path of footprints ended at two set of metal doors. And in the middle was a guy with two faces. One where his face should be and one where the back of his head should be, so it looked like he had a Mohawk.

"Hello Alish. Pick a door." said the head on the left.

"Any door." Righty said.

"What?" I asked. The two heads sighed simultaneously.

"Don't you speak English, daughter of Hephaestus? Pick a door already! Does it really have to take that long to make a decision?" Lefty yelled.

"Why do I have to pick? I could just go back the way I came from." I turned around and gasped. The way I came from had disappeared, replaced by a large round room. Oh no. Why am I the one with all the bad luck? It's not like I've ever broken a mirror in my lifetime. I turned back to Lefty and Righty. "I know. You're Janus and I'm the idiot that picks the wrong door."

"True." Lefty said.

"And false." Righty said.

"Or false." Lefty said.

"And true!" Righty exclaimed.

"Take your pick!" They said together.

I sighed. "I get it. One of you lies and the other says the truth, like the stories. So… I wish Fayliom was here. Actually no. That wouldn't help, that would just confuse me."

The two heads tilted their heads towards me. I had the urge to hold their head up so they wouldn't fall sideways. But I didn't. "What are you talking about?" Lefty asked.

I pushed Janus aside. "Forget that." And I walked through the door on the left.

I knew I made the wrong choice as soon as the ground disappeared underneath me. Of course! The door on the _right _was the_ right_ door! I closed my eyes and prepared to get squished by the ground when someone grabbed my hand. I opened my eyes to see Zan flying (or floating) above me.

"Zan?!" My jaws dropped.

"Hold on." And with that we flew up. It was the coolest thing I've ever done (except for roasting that pig). He brought us hovering over the ground and suddenly we dropped. Fortunately and unfortunately for me, I tumbled right onto Zan. Fortunately because it was softer than the hard ground. Unfortunately because… well it was just plain awkward. My cheek turned fiery and I pushed myself off of him, only to trip over his leg and land face down in the ground again. Then I rolled over and (once again) fell into the hole next to me. I reached up and grabbed a slab of stone about five inches away from the ground above me.

I heard Zan sigh and then his face appeared. "Seriously?" He asked.

"Shut up." I grumbled. He reached down and I took his hand. Once again my face burned. (How's that possible?) He pulled me up and for a second I was close enough to feel his breath on my face. I took a step back and he did the same.

"I know." He said. "I still need to work on my landing."

"Yeah. Let's just stick with that, Flyboy." I looked away into the abyss and saw something sparkle at the bottom. But then it disappeared and I ignored it. It was probably a trick of the light "Now what?"

"Now," he said. "We need to find those friends of yours before they die a painful death like you almost did there."

"You're not going to take me to Gaea?" I asked.

"No." He said with a weird look on his face. I wondered what had happened while he was kidnapped. "I changed my mind. I mean, you're the one that said Gaea's evil, right?"

We found them. And three new members of the This-is-stupid-let's-get-outta-here Team. The little girl (she looked about 10) was named Lucy Clearwater. The boy was older than me. Probably 14 or 15. The older girl was about the same age. The boy was named Willes Vendes. The girl was Bianca DiVee.

When we entered the janitor room it was quite a scene. Lucy was playing hot potatoes with Willes using a fortune cookie. Bianca was sleeping in the corner. Matt and Fayliom were talking about jade something or other and pointing at a book that looked as old as my great grandma (I wasn't surprised). The four that were awake all looked up all at once, which was a bit creepy.

"Alish!" Fayliom exclaimed and hugged me. "Where have you been?" she scolded me like she was my mother or something.

"Oh, nowhere. Just got kidnapped by some warriors and almost got killed falling into a hole."

"What?" Fayliom asked, caught off guard. I was usually the person who asked that question so I like to enjoy these moments when I'm smarter than her.

"Nothing. I found Zan on the way and an epic sword too. Drum roll please," I pulled out my sword and set it on fire. "For the SWORD OF EPICNESS!" I used my best announcement voice and tried to look as awesome as I could, which wasn't hard since I was already epically awesome.

"You made up the name didn't you?" Fayliom asked.

"Well, of course. How else would it sound that awesome?" I said. "So what did I miss while I was off killing people?" My best friend hesitated, which she usually doesn't do.

"Fayliom," Matt began. "Found out that she could read people's minds, while you were 'off killing people'."

* * *

November 6 M. D.

Mattias Phoebus Fiqqel

I'm only doing this because Fayliom won't stop bothering me. So don't expect me to write down all my feelings and be all "Dear Diary" this and "Dear Diary" that.

As Alish found love and roasted pigs, Fayliom and I had a whole different problem. We were stuck babysitting a daughter of Poseidon. You think that's cool? Think again. I'll start with the flying paper boats.

Fayliom was the first to notice the little boats floating above our heads, held up by a thin stream of water which also floated above us, defying gravity.

"Hey, Matt." said my girlfriend. "Look." She plucked a small orange boat off the stream. As soon as the boat left the water the flying liquid slashed around and grabbed Fayliom wrist.

"Let go!" She yelled at the water who probably couldn't hear her. I tried to hit the water with my weapon but it bounced off harmlessly. By the way, my weapon is a pair of drum sticks. Not exactly epic but I'd rather not use a Hello Kitty Plush toy that sings the Hello Kitty Theme song.

The water pulled her along the hallway with me chasing after her. Finally it let go. "Why does everything want to play tug of war on me these days?" Fayliom yelped as she touched her wrist which was red and swollen.

"Let me see that." I said and she showed me her wrist. Carefully, I touched her wrist with the tips of my fingers and she yelped again. Then slowly the swelling went down and the red ring disappeared. She gawped at me in awe.

"I wish I could do that." Fayliom said. Then we heard something down the passageway. We walked down the hallway and found a door marked; Janitor Room.

"Why do they have a janitor room all the way down here?" I asked.

"Who knows?" Fayliom answered. She opened the door. I started to take a step into the door. "Hey," Fayliom said, blocking my way with her arm. "Ladies first."

"Fine." I glared at her and added. "What else do you want, an ice cream sundae with a cherry on top?"

"Shut up!" Fayliom said and slapped my arm playfully. Then she entered the room.

The janitor room was clean and tidy. A light bulb hung vulnerably overhead. It smelled like soap and lemons. (Interesting, lemons.) We looked around the room, and three things happened at the same time. One; I knocked over a mop and it clattered noisily onto the ground. Two; Fayliom whipped around and took off her hair band, which turned into a sling shot with a stone already fitted into it. Three; something moved under the table, shifting the table cloth.

"What was that?" Fayliom asked.

"Sorry, I knocked over the mop. Don't kill me with your hairband." I said. "Where did you get that?"

"I got it for my thirteenth birthday present. I just figured it out last night. While you and Alish were sleeping like hibernating polar bears."

"I do not sleep like a hibernating polar bear!" I protested.

"Wanna bet?" Fayliom asked. Before I could answer I heard something under the table.

"Who's there?" I asked and lifted the table cloth. Sitting there under the table were three kids.

"Warriors!" squealed the little kid. She was about ten or eleven. Be behind her were two older kids, a boy and a girl. They were older than me, probably fourteen or fifteen. The girl had black hair and elfish features; she was holding a pitch fork. It might sound funny but it was definitely more effective than drumsticks. The boy had medium length brown hair and unusually colored dark red eyes. He held in one hand a sword. In the other hand he held half of a fortune cookie with the slip of paper still sticking out of it.

* * *

"I'm hungry!" the little kid wined. I sighed and tried to block out her voice. After reassuring them for the millionth time we weren't warriors we settled down, learned each other's names and I tried to ignore the girl.

"Here you go." Willes said and gave the girl a fortune cookie. I swear the guy can pull fortune cookies out of nowhere. Lucy took the fortune cookie and tossed it around, creating a game of hot potato between her and Willes. Bianca was snoring in the corner with a thin blanket.

Fayliom was sitting on a chair with her hand to her temples and was making a sour face like she was having a headache. I was bored out of my mind so I headed over to her.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I'm hearing voices. Is that good or bad?"

"It depends on what kinds of voices you're hearing." I said.

"I could hear the voices of everyone in this room. You're saying that Lucy is annoying and that, well… never mind. Bianca is saying things about cookies and root beer floats. Willes is saying fortune cookies are good. And Lucy is saying that she wants a hot dog or pizza." Fayliom looked at me. "I'm losing it, aren't I?"

I stared at her. "Fayliom. You just said out loud exactly, word by word, what I was thinking." I wondered if I was losing it too.

"No. I think it's just me that's going crazy." Fayliom said.

"Um, you just answered my thought."

"You didn't say anything about "you're losing it"?"

"No?" I answered though it sounded more like a question. Oh wow. My girlfriend has telepathy! Gasp, stutter! "Can you hear people that are not in the room? Like Alish?"

She closed her eyes like she was concentrating. "No, I can't." she said after a while.

"What is happening?" I asked. "I could heal people and see things. Alish could summon fire. And you could the thoughts of people in the same room as you. Is this a dream?"

"I have two hypothisisisi… Alish!"

* * *

So Alish is back, everyone's happy. And then things got weird.

"Hey! Fire lady! Heads up!" Lucy squealed and snow pelted Alish in the face. Alish tried to ignore Lucy, but with the next snowball, Alish's hands burst into flames.

"Okay, water girl! That's it!" Alish shot fire at Lucy. I thought Lucy would get fried but Lucy was ready for it. She shot water out of her hand and they met in the middle. Everyone gaped at them.

"I think we were in preschool together. Except I was better at it." Alish said.

"Yeah. Only because you're older!"

"Once again, pointing out the obvious, Water Freak!"

Fayliom stood up. "Everyone, freeze and shut up already!" Suddenly I was frozen to my spot, leaning onto the table. Everyone else froze too. "I'm tired of everything! I never asked to be here in the first place. My life is a disaster, I stink at everything, my father disappeared, the orphanages treated me like a slave and I just wish…"

Fayliom sat down beside me and I could move again. "I just can't handle all this." She put her hand over her face, sighed, and the ground beneath us disappeared.


	4. Book 1 Part 3: Yarn Balls of Fate

November 6 M.D.

Fayliom Wang

I didn't even get a chance to scream before I hit bottom. And boy it hurts. The first thing I did was to check if I broke anything. Nothing felt too painful. Then I searched for my friends in the dark. After walking around like a zombie with my hands in front of me I felt someone. The person's fingers touched my glasses then my cheek and whispered: "Fayliom?"

"Matt!" I whispered back. His other hand found my arm and it felt like someone had shocked me. Even though he looked tall and strong his hands were gentle against mine. They were warm and I think I was blushing. Matt's hand traveled down my arm to my hand.

I didn't dare to move. I had the urge to kiss him but I didn't think it would be appropriate. Anyways, I don't think I'll be able to find his lips. I couldn't see a thing. A cold breeze came from behind me and I shivered. Matt must've felt me shiver because I felt him squeeze my hand. I had a feeling that if we weren't in a fantasy land with all these things happening to us we wouldn't be holding hands right now, nor would he be touching my cheek.

_Don't go away._ I thought. _Stay right here and protect me. _Inside I was really scared. Who knows what's lurking here right this moment.

"Fayliom!" I heard Matt's voice in my head. "You're doing it again. I can't move!"

"Sorry." I said and thought of his hand leaving mine. He unfroze but didn't take his had away from mine. "Come on." I told him and tugged on his hand.

You'd probably think that I could find them with my mind reading powers but no, I can't. I could only hear them but I can't locate where the voices are coming from. Actually, I can't even hear them right now. They must be in some other room.

"What would Aunt Lily think if she saw us right now? Two thirteen year olds, holding hands…"

"Actually I'm fourteen." Matt said.

"What? I thought you said…"

"Um, well. Today's kinda my birthday." He said it more like a question than a statement.

"You didn't tell me!" I slapped him in the arm, playfully.

"Hey, lovebirds!" A stream of flames burst out of nowhere and Alish appeared.

"Hey!" I let go of his hand and put it behind me.

"What're ya doin'?" Alish asked and winked.

"Stop stalking. We need to find everything else. And how did you keep your thoughts away? I couldn't hear you."

"Check this out." Alish extended her flame until I could see the whole room. Actually it was more of a long tunnel with a lot of forks. "I think it's a labyrinth. There's a lot of different rooms."

"Smartest thing you've said all day." I said. "Come on."

I led them down the hall, trying to hide my blush behind my bangs. Something glowed up front. Another cold breeze blew into me.

"Whoa!" I said as I took a step into a room.

"That is awesome!" Alish ran around the room like a little kid that got a new doll house.

"What's so cool…oh, wow!" Matt came into the room and took a big sweep of the room with his eyes. "That is one of the biggest forge I've seen in my life. I need to get a picture of this." He took out his phone and stupidly dropped it into one of the buckets nearby.

"Nice job, Zipline Boy." I murmured as his phone disappeared under a blanket of bubbles. "There goes an iPhone 5. I am not going to scream." Then the iPhone suddenly came back out with a popping sound and Matt catches it.

"What the…?" Alish asked. Music started blaring from his phone, loud ear-splitting music. Matt hurriedly pressed the volume down button.

Something weird happened as Matt pressed the button. His phone elongated and morphed into a blade three feet long. The blade was bronze and had a leather handle.

"Whoa!" Matt exclaimed.

"This is awesome!" Alish said. Now she was in the middle of the room and was working away at the fire.

I heard footsteps from the other side of the room where another doorway loomed.

"Someone's coming." I said. Matt and Alish looked up from their interesting gadgets.

A lady in full body armor of gold steps into the room. She had her dark sleek hair pinned up in a complicated bun in the back of her hair with many pins and clips. She had a black dagger in one hand. She had one eye on her forehead along with two more where they should be.

"Hello. I have been waiting for you, Fayliom Wang."

"You have been waiting for me?" I asked.

"Yes." The woman mused. "You see, there's this bounty and you look very familiar to the picture."

"I know you." Matt whispered.

"Don't be ridiculous." The lady scoffed.

"I really do. You're that lady that… no way!" Matt had a look of complete horror in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"You were my aunt's friend. The one that killed her. You looked very like that lady. I used to think that that other eye was fake." He said like I wasn't here. "You hated me and left early every time I visited. I liked her…" His voice rose up on volume. "And you killed her!"

"Ah, her. She was very stupid, spending her money on men and parties. She was nice but very stupid."

"She wasn't stupid. And she didn't spend all her money on men. It just seemed like it. And she's about to be avenged." He raised his sword and charged.

Three-eyes raised her knife which elongated into a spear and deflected Matt's attack (I didn't know Matt could sword fight). But Matt kept coming at her and she kept deflecting his attacks. I was frozen to my spot, terrified, as I watched my boyfriend battle with a lady with three eyes.

Three-eyes spun her spear, making a shield. For a second Matt hesitated. But a second was all Three-eyes needed. She jabbed at Matt's leg and made a red gash in the side of his calf. Matt yelled and fell, his head hitting the ground with a painful sounding thud.

I unfroze and grabbed a sword on the wall. I have never tried sword fighting. The world fast forwarded as I strike and parried. All I knew was that she had hurt Matt and I hated her for that. Somehow I managed to hit Three-eye with the butt of the sword and she dropped her spear which turned back into a dagger. I picked it up and pointed both blades at the lady.

"Give up?" I asked.

"Not quite." Three eyes said. Things happened so fast. With a *pop* she disappeared and reappeared on the other side of the room. She grabbed Alish by the wrist and they disappeared.

"No!" I screamed. Then I heard a groaning from behind me. I rushed over to Matt.

I examined the wound at the side of his leg. The gash looked deep. That was when I first noticed the green goo oozing out of the cut.

"Matt." I said and shook him.

His eyes opened. "Fayliom?"

"Can you heal it?" I asked. I noticed a lump forming on his forehead where he hit the concrete floor.

He moved his hand slowly down his leg and gently touched the cut. Nothing happened. "It feels like my leg's on fire." He gasped. His breath coming in short bursts. Then I remembered my pouch. I dug around in it, finding only some bandages. I set to work, wrapping the stuff around Matt's leg.

Then I heard footsteps. I got out my newly earned knife to find Zan standing in the doorway.

"Where's Alish?" He demanded. I told him what happened. "What? She's gone, just like that?" Then he noticed Matt lying on the ground.

"This place isn't safe." He said. "I found another room." He got down and grabbed matt's arms and lifted him up. Matt let out a groan but remained unconscious. "Help me carry him. It's not far."

I grabbed Matt's legs and we slowly made it to the room Zan was talking about. The room was circular with painted wall murals of lush green forest filled with animals all the way around. The floor was a blanket of grass with wild flowers growing from it. For a second I was puzzled of how the flowers and grass could survive when I saw the hole in the roof. Above me through the hole in the celling I could see millions of stars. This image brought back some painful memories of my past. I quickly pushed the memory aside and set Matt down.

"I'm going to go look for Alish." Zan disappeared before I could say anything. A cold breeze blew into the room. (So that's where the cold breezes were coming from earlier) Matt stirred and his eyes opened. Those beautiful green eyes searched around the room and found mine.

"Fayliom?"

"Right here." I said. He moved his legs and gasped. I took his hand in mine and he squeezed my hand. I could see he was trying to be brave but the pain was taking over. If I was the one with the wound I would have been crying like a kindergartner by now, probably screaming too. His hands were warmer than usual and I felt his forehead. Matt was burning up! He was also shivering. A fever! Great! I searched in my pouch and came up with some antiseptic. I let go of Matt's hand for a second to unscrew the lid.

"This is going to hurt." I told him, showing him the bottle. He nods and closed his eyes. I unwrapped his bandage and almost gagged. The wound was now greenish with sticky puss coming out of it. "Ready?" He nods again. I tipped the bottle over and poured some of it on his leg.

Matt's fingers dug into the dirt and his teeth clenched. His breathing was shallow. One of his hands searched for mine and I took it. The antiseptic foamed. I closed my eyes so I won't have to see Matt in pain but I could still hear him screaming in his thoughts. I almost sobbed for him. I opened my eyes as Matt's grip loosened a bit on my hand. The bubbling was subsiding. A tear trickled out of Matt's eyes from shutting it so tight and I wiped it away.

When the foaming stopped I wrapped the wound up and relaxed beside Matt. I found a pillow and a blanket in my pouch. I placed the pillow underneath Matt's head and wrapped the blanket around him. I hope that Zan finds Alish before anything bad happened to her.

With Matt steadily breathing beside me I closed my eyes, his hand still around mine as if the world would disappear without it. As I fell asleep I heard him say in his thoughts for the first time: "Fayliom, I _love_ you."

* * *

November 6 M.D.

Alish Firehunter

Pain. That's the first thought that comes to me when I came to. Then I replaced that with another word. Burn

No way. I can't burn! My eyes open and I gasped. I was dangling over a pot of black fire. I wasn't exactly burning but it hurts.

"I see my little captive has finally woken up." Said a familiar voice. I looked up to see Three-eyes on the catwalk above me. "Feeling the _burn_?"

"I can't burn!" I tried to yell but I came out as a whimper. Scaredy cat! I tried again. "Fire can't hurt me!"

"Maybe you haven't tried Drakon fire." She grinned.

"Let me go!" I yelled and twisted around.

"Feisty, aren't you? I think I'll keep you as bait for your friends." Three-eyes laughed evilly and disappeared.

I did try to escape but nothing worked. I wanted to burn the ropes tying me to the catwalk but then I'll fall into the black fire and something bad might happen. Even if I did I don't think I could kill all the guards in the exits. That's when I saw the shape of a boy slowly making his way down the beams overhead toward me, staying in the shadows. He made it above me, pulled out a knife, and started to cut my bonds. I got a glimpse at his face.

"Zan!" I whispered. He put a finger on his lips and continued working away. Then he pulled me up. The catwalk was so narrow I had to stand so close to him I could feel his breath on my face.

"I know how to get out of here, follow me." The catwalk shook and I stumbled into him. Just then Zan leaned closer to me and I knew he was going to try to kiss me. His lips brushed against mine, they were soft and smooth. Then I heard a door clang and I turned away from Zan just in time to see bazooka man dragging in two body sized shapes. As he dragged the shapes closer to the torchlight I saw that they were Fayliom and Matt! At first I thought they were dead but then I saw the steady rise and fall of their chests and I knew they were alive. Thank the Gods! Then something random and unexpected happened at that moment.

"Die!" squealed Lucy and she hit bazooka man with a tennis racket and a mini hurricane swirled at her feet.

"Awww." Said bazooka man. He seemed unfazed by the tennis racket that was bouncing off his arm. At that moment blood spewed from his mouth and he fell forward and there stood Willes and Bianca. Bianca had a knife in her hand. Lucy squealed in delight and swatted bazooka man in the head repeatedly

"Yay! We killed evil baboon dude!"

"I believe you mean bazooka." Willes said.

"No! It's baboon. I know what I'm talking about." Lucy said when she clearly doesn't.

"Alish," Zan grabbed my arm and brought me back to reality. "Come on." We climbed down the ladder to join our friends and the dead "baboon dude".

Zan said, "But before we get too far we have unfinished business." He started to lean in but then I said, "Not to fast Fly-Boy. First let's get outta here"

He looked disappointed.

Someone groaned.

"Ugh." Fayliom rubbed her back and sat up.

"Are you awake, Sleeping Beauty?" I asked.

"Don't mock me!" she snapped. "Where's Matt?" She looked beside her just as Matt's eyes opened.

"What happened?" How long was I out?"

"Five hours." Fayliom answered, checking her watch. Then she gasped. "Five hours! It's almost the third sunset. Now we'll never escape."

"Wait." Zan said. "How long is it till sunset?"

"Two hours and thirty seven minutes." Fayliom answered.

"Then you still have hope. Come on."

* * *

November 6 M. D.

Matt Fiqqel

The world spun and I was confused. My leg throbbed and felt really hot. I vaguely remember battling with a lady with three eyes. Then Fayliom had held my hand as pain shot through my leg. Everything was freezing except her hands and somehow I fell asleep dreaming about Fayliom. Now it was a totally different scene.

Six faces loomed over me. Fayliom, Alish, Zan, Willes, Bianca, and Lucy.

"Hey, look," Willes picked up a giant, white envelope.

"What is it?" Alish asked.

"An envelope, dummy." Lucy said.

"I think you mean, what's in it?" I said.

"Who's going to open it?" Bianca asked.

"Well, Matt's the one who just survived dying slowly of poison." Fayliom said sarcastically. "Shouldn't he open it?"

Everyone nodded and Willes handed me the envelope. Everyone stared at me intently as I ripped the top open. Inside were a few sheets of paper. I took them out and started reading.

"Make sure the brats do not find the room. It's at the end of the hallway marked; Employees Only. There is a basket of yarn stolen from the Fates. Make sure the to switch the blue yarn with the green yarn. Those old hags can't see color. They'll cut the yarn and she'll be taken care of. I want revenge on that Chinese girl. Her past families have brought enough problems and sorrow in my life. Especially that Lily person. I want her to suffer!" I looked up at Fayliom. Her jaws had dropped and her eyes were filled with disbelief.

"She knew?!" She murmured.

"Didn't you say you called your aunt, Aunt Lily?" I asked.

She ignored me. "She wants revenge. On me?"

"But you're not going to die. These are instructions to make sure you die. And we're going to make sure that doesn't happen. Now where's the Employees Only hallway?" She looked around.

"There's more." I read. "Just make sure the basket's delivered to the right people. The yarn might be already switched…"

"I found it. Come on." Alish pointed down a long narrow hallway. I got up and stumbled. Fayliom encouraged me to put my arm around her for support. I did. But only because of my leg. Okay fine, I was kinda hoping for that. Just don't tell her.

"The door's locked." Willes said.

"Seriously?!" Alish moaned.

"There's a cat door for some reason." Bianca said. Everyone turned to Fayliom.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh great." She closed her eyes and concentrated. Suddenly I was free-falling into the wall. The black and white kitten mewed. I hope she was apologizing. I gave her the death glare for not warning me. She hissed in reply and bounded through the cat door. A few minutes later she came running out, almost jumping on me. After she calmed down she finally turned back into a human.

"What did I do?" Fayliom murmured to herself over and over again. She seemed like she was on the verge of tears.

"What happened?" I asked.

"I was switching the yarn and I heard footsteps. So in a hurry I put a golden roll of yarn in its place. But then I saw that the roll of yarn was yours. Matt, it was yours! You're going to get killed and it's going to be my fault!" She buried her face in her sleeves. Though I don't think she was crying. Maybe she was just upset.

"Maybe they won't cut his yarn. Maybe they might make a mistake and cut another one." Alish said. The others looked confused. I don't think they've read the Percy Jackson Series. I'm not crazy about it like Fayliom and Alish are but I know about it. The Fates are these old ladies that cut yarn to make someone die a horrible death. It's simple.

"Why didn't you switch it back?" Lucy asked.

"I didn't have time. I had to hide under the desk while he took the basket away."

"Who?" Bianca asked.

"I don't know. I didn't see." Fayliom answered. "I only saw two black boots."

"How do you even know it's a guy?" I asked.

"I don't know, I just guessed." She said.

"So it could be a woman…?" Alish wondered.

"The main thing is that Matt's gonna die and it's gonna be all my fault!"


	5. Book 1 Part 4: Not the End, Yet

November 6, M.D.

Fayliom Wang

"How did you escape?!" a familiar voice growled. Three-eyes!

"Run!" I yelled and grabbed Alish and Matt's hands, dragging them down a hallway away from where the voice came from.

We ran for our lives, the mad lady chasing us, screeching and cursing in languages I don't understand. In my head, I heard everyone panicking. Passing through a set of double metal doors, the tunnels turned from linoleum to dirt.

Alish pulled me back before I could fall to my death.

"That's the hole I almost fell into!" Alish said.

"You call that a hole?" Lucy asked. "Looks more like a chasm."

"Yeah, we could throw you and your loud mouth in!" Alish exclaimed.

"Shut up!" I yelled. They both shut up. "Listen up. Zan, since you could fly, you can carry Alish. The rest of you, climb on my back after I transform and hang on. This is going to be a tight squeeze for a dragon."

"We're going to jump into the chasm?" Bianca exclaimed. Not far behind, I heard Three-eyes and a bunch of marching feet. Great, she brought her army. I hope they don't have wings.

"There!" Three-eyes screams. "Capture them! I want to flay them alive myself and have them broil in cheese fondue in the Underworld for the rest of eternity!"

"Harsh." Willes cringed.

"Right." I said. "All of you who don't want to be flayed alive or broil for the rest of eternity, climb on!"

I concentrated and feel my body elongating. Matt, Lucy, Wills, and Bianca climbed on my back. I roared and followed Zan and Alish down the chasm.

I heard something else roar the moment I touched ground and I turned back into a human, dumping my passengers on the ground with no warning. "Sorry." I apologized.

"Oh no." Alish gasped.

"What?" I looked up and realized what. It was the beast from my dream. It had two heads. One a lion, the other a dragon. On its back was wings, and its tail was like a scorpion's, green mist billowing off it with poison. In my head, the creature talked to me. Yes, I'm the only one who could hear it.

_You will not succeed. The only way to get out of this world is with the crystal._

I see the shining crystal behind the creature. The only way to get to it is to go past the creature. And I don't think it'll let us pass without a fight.

"We have to all touch the crystal to generate the portal out of here." Willes said. "And the only way to get to it is to kill the thing."

"How do we kill it?" Matt asks.

_Can you guys hear me? _I ask. Everyone turned to me in surprise and nodded, probably because I just talked to them without moving my mouth. _I don't think the thing can hear me. Now listen up, I have a plan._

"Do tell." Lucy said. The creature looked at us in confusion.

_The dragon can breathe fire, if my dream is correct. Alish, you and Lucy get the dragon. I know you two can't work together, but to get out of this, you have to try. Zan, fly up and try to distract the tail. Matt, Bianca, Willes, get two of you get the lion and one of you get help Zan with the tail, I don't care who does what._

"What about you?" Zan asks.

_Me, I'm going to do some mind manipulation. On three, and don't die._

_One._

_Two._

_Three!_

We charged, coming at the beast from all sides. For a moment it seemed disoriented, but soon, we found that the thing was very good with multi-tasking.

Lucy pelted the dragon with blasts of water and snow balls while Alish slashed away with her sword. Hatred aside, they work pretty well together. Zan flew around the monster, calling names and jabbing at the tail while Matt did the same from below. Bianca and Willes must have been fighting by each other for a while because they were quite the team, cutting and weaving around each other's strikes as they battle the lion.

Now that the others are in battle, I must do my part. I concentrated and pelted words and phrases at the lion. I tried to make it freeze like I could with my friends, but found that it was harder than I thought.

_There's someone on your left!_ The lion looked left and that gave Willes a chance to slice part of its snout off, making it roar.

_Look out below! _The tail (seeming like it had its own mind) whipped down and Zan from above cut off half of its pincer with his iPhone sword.

"You know you can do better than that!" Three-eyes sneered at be from behind. I spin around and come face to face with Miss-I-Scream-Like-A-Monkey. Instantly, I reach for my hair band and it turned into a sling shot. I aimed it at Three-eyes.

"You'll never defeat me like that!" She growls and takes out her spear. She came at me at lightning speeds. I dodged her first attack and stopped her second one with a stone in her eye. Another stone instantly reappeared. But she was right. I can't keep pelting her with little pebbles. I need a real weapon. Three-eyes pointed her spear tip right at me and charged again. Time slowed down. I sidestepped and grabbed the shaft of the spear, pulling it and Three-eyes down with me. The spear rolled away and Three-eyes landed on me.

"Argh! You brat!" She reached out and clawed my face, her super long nails sinking into my cheek and instantly flames covered my left cheek.

"Get off of me!" I pushed her and now I was on top, blood flowing down my cheek. I tried to reach for the spear, but Three-eyes grabbed my arm and twisted. I gasped and punched her.

Hearing her scream was a sound for sore ears. I punched her again and heard something crack. Blood spilled from her nose. Then she elbowed me in the stomach.

"Ah!" All the air left my lungs and I grasped for air while Three-eyes got up and reached for a knife at her belt. I lay there helpless in a heap, waiting for Three-eyes to deliver the final blow.

_Fayliom, get up! _It's Athena, standing before me in full battle armor. I slowly caught my breath and got up. Everyone around me moved like a nano-milimeter a second. _I know you can do better than that! _She scolded me.

"How are you here?" I asked. "I thought you couldn't…"

_Your calling was so strong you let me in. _She replied. _You asked for a better weapon. Go get it!_

Now everything was moving at normal speed again.

"How?" Three-eyes gasped.

"Always keep a goddess by your side." I said. "Someday she might come in handy." I picked up the spear, now lying by my feet, and stabbed Three-eyes in the arm. She screamed like crazy. I was just about to finish her off when someone yelled in agony. It was Matt. The tail had disarmed him and had the half pincer by his throat.

"No!" Stop!" I shouted. Amazingly it froze. Alish took the chance and slid under the beast, stabbing it in its ugly belly. The monster disintegrated in a dark sandstorm.

I took a glance at my watch. "The crystal!" I shouted. "We have two minutes!" We all rushed to the crystal. I left Three-eyes moaning on the ground. There was no way she would be able to get up or do anything.

Everyone laid a hand on the crystal and the room started shaking. Then Rainbow Swirly number dos appeared a foot away from the crystal.

"Hurry!" I said. Lucy jumped in. Followed by Bianca and Willes. Zan stepped through, then Alish. The portal started to shrink.

"Hurry!" I shoved Matt in the prepared to jump through when something grabbed my leg.

"I will not let you leave this world alive!" Three-eyes screeched.

"Let go!" I had shoved the spear in my pouch, and had no time to get it back out. So I punched her. She yelled but didn't let go. Meanwhile, the portal was getting smaller and smaller.

Then Three-eyes let go. What? Matt was grabbing Three-eyes by the leg and fighting, trying to keep her away from me.

"You're not supposed to come back!" I yelled.

"Go!" He shouted.

"No!" I refused.

"Fine, I'll just have to make you." He kicked Three-eyes aside, and grabbed my arm. Then he kissed me, hard. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" I asked, mesmerized. Before I could get my answer, he shoved me backwards and the he disappeared.

"Matt!" I cried.

I'd landed on a hillside. The grass was green and it smelled like fresh strawberries and barbecue. I heard voices of kids shouting not far away. Almost everyone was here. Lucy jumped around, obviously alright. Bianca and Willes made it out with minor bruises and injuries. Zan was also not badly injured. Alish was covered with monster dust. My cheek burned and my lips tingled. Then I started to cry.

* * *

November 6, M.D.

Alish Firehunter

"What happened?" I asked.

"Matt… He came back for me. I couldn't protect him… now he's gone…" Fayliom sniffled. She's barely cried since I've met her.

"Where is he now?"

"Stuck back in the other world, probably." Zan said.

"Three-eyes has him!" Fayliom exclaimed. "It's all my fault!"

"No it's not." Lucy said.

A horn blew and the shouting of kids grew louder. Then Lucy gasped. "Horse man!" She exclaimed.

"No." Bianca gapes at him.

"Centaur!" Willes finishes for her.

"Fayliom Wang." The centaur muses. "We have been waiting for you."


	6. Book 2 Prologue: Life or Death

Nathan ran. He ran as fast as his legs could take him. Julia was running alongside him, holding hands with Nathan.

"Julia, go!" He yelled.

"I'm not leaving without you." She said. She let go of his hand and unclipped her hair clip. It expanded into a three foot long sword made of celestial bronze. The ground shook . Nathan looked behind him and his heart sank . The Avenger (Zeus's pet eagle, who used to rip out Prometheus's liver every morning in the myths to punish Prometheus for giving fire to the mortals) had caught up with him. Nathan had angered it by destroying the Avenger's mate which, surprisingly, was not mentioned in the Greek myths. It screeched and Nathan covered his ears.

"A mate for a mate." The Avenger hissed and dove. It knocked Julia to the ground and drove his beak into Julia's chest where her heart would be.

"No!" Nathan screamed. He turned back and grabbed Julia's sword and in one strike cut off The Avenger's head. The Avenger turned into a shower of sand.

"Nathan?" Nathan could barely hear Julia's voice. Julia's breathing was shallow and a pool of blood had already gathered around her.

"I'm here." He knelt done beside Julia's dying body and took her hand. He could feel tears streaming out of his eyes.

"I want you to listen very carefully. When I'm gone you will go back to camp and you will continue with your life. You will find yourself a beautiful girlfriend and you will live happily forever. You will NOT spend the rest of your life feeling sorry, do you hear?"

"Julia, no. Don't die."

"I said, Nathan Jeremy Landrune, you will not destroy your life just because I died, you hear? That is an order, mister. Now smile. I don't want to spend my last minutes looking at that sad face, Pouty."

Nathan forced a smile to appear on his face. Even when she was dying she was as bossy as ever. Using her other hand Julia pressed something into Nathan's palm. He opened it to see a silver ring with a turquoise gemstone embedded into it.

"A parting gift. It was my grandmother's. Take care of it. I love you."

"I love you too."

Nathan leaned down and kissed her. Julia let out one last breath and her body went slack. Nathan looked into her golden, topaz eyes for the last time and closed it. He slipped the ring onto a string of beads around his neck. Then Nathan picked up Julia's body, created a portal with the last of his strength, and stepped through.


	7. Book 2 Part 1: New Faces, Old Faces

My name is Fayliom Rebakah Wang.

Normal things about me: I am fourteen years old. I'm five foot three and a half and weigh 119 pounds. I'm half Chinese, half Greek. I went to 7th grade in the USA. Until now. (But you've already read my last book and know what happened. I had to go save a forbidden world with six of my friends and save the world from total destruction due to fire. blah blah blah...) My best friend is Alish Firehunter. We've been friends since first grade.

Unusual things about me: I'm a demigod. My real mother is Athena. I could also turn into animals like a giant koi, dragon, panda, etc. I personally own a dagger that turns into a spear. I'm also telepathic.

I have black hair, Chinese features and stormy gray eyes that scare people when I do the death glares at them. Matt says that's one of the things he likes about me. I think that's crazy. I have an athletic body and tan skin.

Now, about Matt, my former boyfriend. He is taller than me by about three feet. He had brown curly hair and beautiful green eyes that if you look sideways at it turns topaz (I love that about him). But I haven't seen him for about ten months now and I have a hunch that he's dead. But still I'm doing my best not to go commit suicide and am instead trying to find a way to look for him.

So after we arrived at Camp Half-blood we met Chiron the centaur and he showed us around. We got our bunks and now, about ten months later, I found myself to be the new counselor of the Athena Cabin. They asked me and of course I said yes. I know Annabeth would want me to be the counselor. I could tell she liked me ever since the first day she met me. But it was just temporary, because she's on a dangerous quest to the ancient lands (Europe) to defeat Gaea with six other demigods (including Percy Jackson) and these Romans are going to attack us and well… a lot of stuff. I knew they were real. I also met the Senior Scribe: Rick Riordan. That was kinda cool.

But usually when I don't have anything to go to I would wonder in the woods. I know it doesn't do any good but I just want to be alone.

Ever since Matt disappeared ten months ago I have only talked three times to anyone other than Alish. One of the times to accept the role of counselor. Without Matt here I feel so… empty. Like a part of me has been ripped out and there's just a gaping hole in the middle of my chest and I can't find anything to fill that hole no matter how long I wonder in those woods. Then one day, two miracles happened to me.

Sometime around midnight a conch horn woke me up. When I got my shoes on and found my glasses I rushed outside to see what was going on. The kids in the crowd had on a mixture of pajama pants and armor. Huh, interesting fashion statement. I followed the crowd to the top of Half-blood hill. There were two boys. The younger one was about 11 and the older one was about 15. The smaller kid had black hair and gray eyes. The older kid had brown hair and dark blue eyes. And they both had Chinese features. I recognized them the first second I set eyes on them. The older boy looked around the circle. When he saw me he gasped and tapped on the little one's shoulder and pointed at me. For the first time in eight months I smiled.

"Fay Fay!" Seth exclaimed

"Fayliom!" Jacob exclaimed and ran to greet me. He picked me up like he did when I was little and ruffled my hair. I hugged him. "I thought I was never going to find you here! It's so good to see you. How did you get here?"

"Jake, Seth! Oh my gods!" I gasped as tears streamed out of my eyes. I hugged little Seth who wasn't so little anymore. I told him the short version of my adventure, carefully leaving out the parts about Matt. I had so many questions! "If you're here where's Dad? Is he still alive too?"

Their faces got suddenly serious. "The Roman Retards got him." Seth said. Then Jake smiled again. I wonder what Seth meant.

"Let's not worry about that for now. I found my little sis and that's all that matters right now."

* * *

While everyone was having breakfast I was sitting by the creek. My brothers were pretty hungry and everyone wanted to meet them so I let them have their space. I looked into their thoughts just far enough to see that they were on some quest at the Roman camp – Camp Jupiter. I haven't thought of Dad for seven years and I didn't want to now.

Instead my mind drifted back to Matt. Those last minutes of his arms around me before he disappeared, probably for good. He had kissed me. I wish I could have kissed him back. Or even maybe sacrificed myself to save him. Maybe… never mind. Whatever I do I swear I will never try to change fate again. **_NEVER EVER_**.

So I was sitting by the creek, staring at some naiads weaving baskets out of seaweed when a twig snapped behind me. I looked up to see Nathan. He was a child of Hecate. The magic goddess or something. I've only really saw Nathan's face once at dinner. Sometimes I'd look up during archery or sword fighting and see him staring at me from the corner. But then he'll drop his gaze when he sees me looking.

He was somewhere around fifteen to sixteen years old. He had hair the color of autumn leaves, sometimes blonde, sometimes light brown, sometimes that auburn color like flames, depending on how the sunlight hit it. His eyes were green just like Matt's. _Matt_.

"Enjoying the view?"

I shrugged.

"You'll have to let him go you know? You have to let life go on." He said.

"How do you know?" I asked with a hint of stubbornness in my voice. I was surprised too. He was the first person to speak to me in months. Even Alish has given up. "You don't know how much I loved him."

"But I do know. You see, I lost a girl that I liked, even loved, on a quest. It took me forever but I finally let her go. I know the pain you're going through." He sat down beside me, politely leaving space between us. He brushed his index finger along my pinky. "But it'll pass. Trust me."

I pulled my hand away looked up at him. He had a comforting smile on his face. A strand of my bangs fell onto my face and he reached over to brush it back. I realized this was the first time in four months that I did not feel the emptiness. "Thanks." I said.

"Come on. I want to show you something." He offered me his hand. For a second I hesitated. A part of my brain screamed;_ Remember Matt! Matt! _But another part, bigger and stronger, screamed; _Matt's gone and you know that. You know you want him. Go with Nathan!_

Finally I took his hand. It was firm and comforting. A small part of me felt guilty for betraying Matt but I knew he wasn't coming back and I need to let him go.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"You'll see." He replied.

Nathan took me to the side of a pile of rocks. A crack streaked through the middle. "Follow me." He said and squeezed through the crack. I heard him drop about six feet below. I tried to read his mind to see what was down there. I came up blank. Of course. He was in another room. "Come on. It's not that far of a drop. I'll catch you if you fall."

"Okay." I said and went in after him. The ground disappeared from underneath me and I let out a yelp. Then the fall was over and I was in Nathan's arms. I blushed as he sat me down.

"See? It wasn't so bad." But I wasn't listening. I was looking around in awe. Multi-colored crystals jutted out in crazy angles. Stalagmites and stalactites created big jaws that looked like it was going to take a bite out of you. Stripes of minerals looked like bacon and made me sad that I missed breakfast.

"It's beautiful!" I gaped.

"The farther you go the more there is." He took my hand and pulled me along. We went through a dark tunnel. Nathan stopped suddenly and I ran into him. "Wait a moment." He said. "_Incantatem Lux_."

The room lit up and my jaw dropped. A wall had a huge frozen, white mineral waterfall that glittered with rainbows that made the cavern look all sparkly.

"Wow."

"I know, right? You have to see… or smell the next cavern. The first time I almost blacked out." He led me through another tunnel. Halfway through the tunnel the smell hit me like rotten eggs were pelted in my face.

"OH GODS! HOLY CRAP!" I exclaimed and hid my nose into the sleeve of my jacket. Nathan bursted out laughing. "Its sulfur isn't it?" I asked even though I already know the answer.

"Yes!" And that brought on another round of laughing. I found myself laughing along too. I was laughing for the first time in ten months!

When we calmed down we headed back to the frozen waterfall cavern. "That was the most I've laughed in ten months. And the most I've talked."

"See? You just had to let go and go with the flow." He said.

"Why me?" I asked suddenly serious.

"What?"

"Why did you choose to talk to me?"

"You seemed like you needed help and I had a solution."

"But why? You didn't have to do anything."

"Fayliom." He sighed and lifted my chin so he could look straight into my eyes. "You could read minds! You should know!"

"I try not to pry. I like my own privacy and I have a good feeling other people do too."

"Fayliom, I like you. Don't you see?" he asked. "Go ahead and take a peek." He pointed hat his head. "You know you want to."

I looked and saw nothing. "I can't hear or see your thoughts."

"What? You can't? Is there something wrong with me?" Nathan asked.

"Aye-yi-yi. Twilight Saga all over again." I slapped my face. I tried to look into his thoughts again and this time I refused to have no for an answer. And there, I saw a faint red spark. A spark that if tended and cared for would become a flame of love. I tried to look for any other thoughts but that's all I could see. Just a spark. No pictures or words or feelings. Just a little spark in the middle of the darkness.

"Actually, I could see a little. Just your strongest emotion." I said.

"Good then. I'm not a monster. I'm just a freak."

"You're not a freak. You're a wonderful demigod with a unique brain that I can't peek through. You should consider yourself lucky. I know so many secrets of other people that_ I_ feel like a stalker." I said.

"Let's stop calling ourselves freaks and stalkers and go get some lunch."

"How do you know?"

He nodded at my watch. "You're not the only smart person in this cave."

I grinned. "Nice. Let's go.


	8. Book 2 Part 2: Light Show

That night after the sing-along I went back to the cabin and laid on my bed until everyone was asleep. Then, I slipped out of bed, fully dressed, put on my sneaker, grabbed my endless space pouch, and sneaked out of the cabin. It was past curfew, so no one was out. I crept past the cabins and headed for the forest. Finally, I found my way back to the caverns. I took a battery generated lamp out of my pouch and set it on the ground. The night was warm and crickets chirped in the distance. I stared at the frozen white waterfalls and bacon strips. This place was so beautiful and peaceful. I chewed on the end of my camp bead necklace, with one pathetic clay bead on it. The image on it depicted of the portal that we'd went through to escape the forbidden world and appear in Camp Half-blood. Every day, it reminded me of my adventure through the forbidden world and of Matt. Matt…

"Back again?"

I jumped. It was Nathan.

"Great timing." He said. "The light show comes on about this time of night each month. Watch."

As if on cue, moonlight shined through holes at the top of the cavern, making the waterfall and the stalagmites and stalactites glitter and dance. At first the waterfall was blue, like waves in the ocean. It blazed with scarlet flames, then gold, like heaven. At last it was like a snowstorm, white flakes seemed to be jumping out at me. I "ohh"ed and "ahh"ed.

"How does it do that?" I gasped.

"Camp magic." Nathan whispered mysteriously. I rolled my eyes.

"You should go now." Nathan said. "Tomorrow's capture the flag. You'll want to get plenty of sleep. Especially with the Huntresses of Artemis visiting."

"What about you?" I ask.

"I… need to do something." He sounded uncomfortable.

"Okay, I'll go." I stopped at the exit and turned back. Nathan was heading deeper into the cavern. After waiting for a moment, I turned and followed him.


End file.
